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STRATEGIC PLAN 2013
Goals, Strategies, and Tactical Approaches
ABOR 2013 Enterprise Strategic Goals
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Promote student learning and success (NAU 1, 3)
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Advance educational attainment in Arizona (NAU 1, 4, 5)
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Expand research (NAU2)
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Impact Arizona (NAU 2, 4, 6)
1. Student Success: Promote high levels of student access, engagement, achievement, and
affordability
Strategies:
a. Improve student learning and achievement
 Cultivate effective learning skills, personal responsibility, and commitment to
learning through curricular, co-curricular, and advising programs
 Support the culture of academic rigor through pedagogy driven by university-,
program-, and course-level learning outcomes
 Strengthen assessment of student achievement of student learning outcomes in
courses and programs and implement systematic protocols for on-going
improvement
 Strengthen the first-year and second-year academic experience as a foundation for
high achievement
 Strengthen support for teaching and learning of writing within academic disciplines
 Increase integration of academic and co-curricular programming in learning
communities
 Promote undergraduate student participation in research, creative, and professional
activities and collaboration between graduate and undergraduate students
 Increase participation in, and institutional impact of, the University Honors Program
 Enhance financial support and assistantships for graduate students to build
nationally competitive programs
 Develop new competitive professional master’s and doctoral programs in selected
areas of strength
 Promote multi-disciplinary, integrative collaborations in graduate education
 Encourage the highest levels of graduate student research, creative, and
professional practice activities
b. Strengthen teaching, mentoring, and curricular design across departments and faculty ranks
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 Support comprehensive faculty development program that improves understanding
of cognitive and learning processes and corresponding best pedagogical practices,
and that enhances faculty’s technological skills
 Enhance faculty expertise in course and curriculum design
 Promote intentional curriculum design that explicitly links course, program, and cocurricular learning outcomes
 Develop career-stage appropriate programming to enhance teaching skills
 Value and reward mentoring of students by faculty members – examine workload
policies, faculty annual reporting.
c. Expand use of blended and other technology enhanced course designs to increase student
achievement, conserve faculty effort, and optimize use of facilities
 Promote and support pedagogically sound technological innovations within
academic units to increase student engagement, learning, and achievement
d. Build a strong academic scaffolding of student support and guidance for achievement and
degree attainment
 Use technology to increase the reach and impact of professional advisors
 Strengthen career planning
 Increase student utilization of academic support programs
 Implement academic, business, and student support practices that improve learning
outcomes of diverse student populations
 Implement curriculum and course scheduling practices that strengthen service to
students and increase institutional effectiveness
e. Recruit, retain, and support degree progress of increasingly diverse learners
 Enhance marketing and recruitment strategies to attract freshman, transfer, and
graduate students to the university and to enable easy transfer to the university
 Strengthen structures and practices that promote progress, shorten time to
graduation, and facilitate degree completion
 Increase financial resources to support student enrollment, progress, and success at
the university
f. Offer affordable options for time and place-bound learners that build a highly qualified
Arizona workforce
 Increase access by expanding, developing, and marketing academic programs that
meet the state workforce needs
 Encourage effective and efficient use of technology in delivering high quality
programs and student support services
 Provide student life, learning services, and faculty support programs that respond
efficiently to the needs of each learner
 Optimize the multi-campus structure and the governance process to build the
institution’s flexibility in delivering programs that meet the needs of local
communities
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 Identify and pursue collaborative opportunities to deliver affordable education,
including community college-to-university programming
2. Nationally Recognized Research Excellence: Expand the boundaries of knowledge to improve lives.
Strategies:
a. Generate nationally recognized science, art, and scholarship
 Promote a culture of research, scholarship, and creative activity across all disciplines
that reflects and strengthens the university’s status as a High Research university
 Recruit and retain excellent graduate students, post-doctoral scholars and faculty
 Increase research productivity and the application of outcomes to address realworld issues
 Encourage and support interdisciplinary activities that enrich research and scholarly
potential
 Leverage inter-university collaboration to broaden research expertise
 Leverage our existing strengths and our natural advantages to expand research
opportunities
 Promote awareness statewide and nationally of the “NAU Research” brand
b. Emphasize and reward high productivity and impact
 Support large-scale collaborative research projects
 Invest in high-risk, high impact research and early-stage innovation
 Develop a vibrant, state-of-the-art research infrastructure, including cyberinfrastructure
 Recognize individuals and teams of outstanding researchers, scholars and
innovators in tangible ways
 Promote international research collaborations in areas that benefit the university
and the state
c. Provide cutting-edge training and learning opportunities to students
 Encourage a campus-wide culture that promotes research and scholarship as
informing pedagogy, and that values the scholarship of pedagogy
 Sustain and create graduate programs in select high demand disciplines to meet
regional, national, and global needs
 Train students and support faculty in 21st Century research directions
 Expand and highlight undergraduate research and engagement opportunities
across the curriculum
d. Address regional and state-wide culture through a wide range of scholarly activities
 Partner with the business, non-profit and entrepreneurial sectors to address
regional economic vitality
 Generate new knowledge associated with the unique cultural, socioeconomic and
environmental issues that are important to Northern Arizona communities
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 Provide leadership and expertise through research and scholarship based public
service and outreach
3. Global Engagement: Advance the internationalization of the university to prepare students for
global citizenship
Strategies:
a. Build upon the Global Learning Initiative to further engage faculty and academic
departments in an intentional and strategic process of preparing students to become
globally competent graduates
 Facilitate, assess, and document global learning in the majors, the liberal studies
program and learning experiences outside the classroom
 Structure global learning experiences in terms of the themes of diversity,
sustainability and global engagement
 Reward faculty for their commitment to and engagement and success with global
learning
 Make education abroad more accessible and affordable
b. Expand teaching and research partnerships with partner institutions worldwide
 Facilitate joint and dual degrees
 Exchange artistic, scientific, and cultural experiences with partners across the globe
 Address pressing challenges that impact human conditions
c. Leverage intellectual human capital to meet the national and global demands of the 21st
century
 Explore export of the academic programs abroad
 Develop opportunities to attract outstanding graduate students and faculty from
other nations
4. Diversity, Civic Engagement, and Community Building: Promote issues of diversity, civility,
democracy, citizenship, and community engagement and collaboration.
Strategies:
a. Expand diversity of the university community
 Recruit and retain a student population with diverse perspectives, experiences, and
backgrounds
 Recruit and retain faculty and staff populations with diverse perspectives,
experiences, and racial and ethnic backgrounds
b. Foster a community of inclusion and prepare students to engage in and understand the
complexities of the human experiences
 Increase efforts to support a civil and respectful learning and working environment
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 Ensure the safety of students, faculty, staff, and visitors through an appropriate
campus design
 Increase collaborative initiatives across all university divisions
 Support diversity initiatives focused on underrepresented groups
 Create opportunities for diverse groups to share their perspectives and knowledge
 Foster and support universally designed environments
 Promote and support learning about inclusion
 Provide faculty development workshops, orientations, and presentations about the
pedagogy of inclusion
c. Enhance the university as a regional economic development driver and partner
d. Foster programs linked to civic engagement
 Advance student learning and leadership through the diffusion of ideas about
experiential learning opportunities for citizenship, engagement, and civility across
the curriculum.
 Develop projects, programs, and initiatives that engage students, faculty, and staff
with local communities in relationships that promote the public good, deepen
values of active citizenship, and support greater cooperation among
diverse communities
 Encourage student and faculty research and scholarly activities in civic engagement
 Represent, promote, and support the university's reputation as a leading institution
with distinctive programs supporting civic engagement
 Support a learning and working environment that encourages civil discourse
 Develop integral connections between local, national, and global learning
opportunities for civic engagement
e. Promote community engagement
 Engage with partners to address regional economic vitality, environmental
stewardship, urban-rural social well-being, and cultural understanding
 Improve inter-agency communication and involvement in community planning
processes, including those that involve the City of Flagstaff
 Use and support the university’s abundant cultural and artistic resources to enhance
engagement with the community and the world
 Encourage service learning
5. Commitment to Native Americans: Become one of the nation’s leading universities serving Native
Americans
Strategies:
a. Increase the enrollment and improve the progress and success of Native American students
by nurturing a university climate and culture that enhances their academic experiences
 Intensify recruitment efforts and enhance marketing
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 Improve student retention and progress to graduation
 Enhance existing pedagogies and student support frameworks
 Increase the number of Native American faculty and staff and promote their
retention
 Counsel and encourage students to pursue graduate studies
 Expand curricula that focus on and address Native American experiences
 Expand partnerships with tribal colleges to enhance opportunities for Native
American students to continue their education
b. Develop collaborative service and outreach programs with Native American communities
 Strengthen and develop partnerships with tribal governments and others that
benefit Native American students, researchers, faculty, and communities
 Reward faculty for their commitment to and engagement with Native American
communities
 Enhance fundraising that supports Native American students, faculty, programs, and
their communities
 Work with tribes to establish scholarship and retention programs and a designated
Native American endowed position
 Explore new and enhance existing cross-disciplinary programs and approaches that
incorporate Native American traditional knowledge and practices
c. Promote engagement with and appreciation and understanding of Native American cultures
and tribal nations within the university and in the broader community
 Promote cultural exchange through the support of the knowledge, wisdom, and
expertise of Traditional Knowledge Scholars
 Provide opportunities for the local community to experience and appreciate Native
American culture and enhance the community’s understanding of tribal governance
6. Sustainability and Effectiveness: Exemplify a sustainable, innovative, and effective university
community
Strategies:
a. Model environmentally responsible and sustainable operations and education
 Partner with individuals, institutions, and communities to advance renewable
resources and sustainable practices across campus
 Maintain and revise the Campus Sustainability Plan to enhance sustainable business
practices in areas such as building construction and renovation, renewable energy,
institutional purchasing, utility use, landscaping, grounds maintenance, and
transportation, regionally grown food, fossil fuel use, carbon emissions, recycling
and reduction of food and other waste
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 Use the “campus as ecosystem” concept across the curriculum to educate faculty
and students about the scientific, cultural, socioeconomic, and ethical dimensions of
sustainability
 Implement issue-oriented education focusing on topics such as global climate
change, resource depletion, water issues, and species loss
b. Continue to improve institutional effectiveness and organizational performance
 Improve assessment of institutional performance by refining measurements and
adopting best practices
 Improve the collection and analysis of environmentally related data (energy,
emissions, transportation, hazardous waste, recycling, certified suppliers, etc.) and
use the data strategically in making environmental and economic decisions
 Strengthen budgetary and financial performance to increase financial accountability
and transparency
 Support an appropriate information infrastructure to ensure the quality and
availability of needed data and services for faculty, staff, students, and partners
 Increase the effectiveness of communication among, staff, faculty, students, and
parents
 Cultivate a culture of philanthropy among faculty, staff, students, parents, and
alumni
 Design products and environments to be usable by all people to the greatest extent
possible
c. Maximize faculty and staff commitment through workforce practices and services that
contribute to the long-term viability of the university
 Recruit and retain highly qualified administrators, faculty, and staff with a
commitment to service in support of undergraduate, graduate, and professional
education
 Encourage excellence through effective leadership, supportive management and
services, professional development, career enhancement, and meaningful
evaluation
 Strengthen faculty development with programs to promote commitment to and
excellence in teaching and mentoring
 Align faculty and staff expectations, evaluations, and rewards with the university
mission to promote effectiveness and excellence
 Increase training for academic and administrative leaders through leadership and
professional development programs
 Create a progressive climate that encourages innovation, acceptance to change,
entrepreneurial activities, collaboration, and philanthropy
d. Develop fundraising opportunities to meet the strategic goals
 Build financial capacity to support global engagement
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Develop prospects interested in investing in education abroad
opportunities for NAU students and enabling international students to
receive scholarship support at the university
 Increase fundraising that supports Native American students, faculty, programs, and
their communities
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DRAFT